Celebrating 50 years of adult protective services practice and shepherding them into the next decade

Although elder abuse has existed since the beginning of time, the formal response to it is relatively recent. In this article, the authors briefly review the history of adult protective services (APS) beginning in the 1950s, describe the current practice of APS and inherent challenges, highlight a few noteworthy elder abuse interventions, and provide a roadmap for advancing the practice of APS in the coming decade. As will be revealed, significant advances have been made in the practice of APS that have improved the well-being of older Americans who have experienced some form (or multiple forms) of abuse. Although there are many issues with which APS will continue to grapple, there is also cause for great optimism that the current momentum will be maintained.